jjg, curious as to what consitutes "real" itlian pizza. One who knows tells me a heavy crust, morelikley to be a half sheet, and a sauce that isn't sweet. Her people come from mid-Italy. Truth?

My Grandparents were straight off the boat. Came over after World War II looking for a better life. Barely spoke a lick of english.

My Grandmother would make the best. Thick, heavy crust, lite sauce, lite cheese on a half sheet like you mentioned. Can't ever remember there being toppings on any pizza she made. You didn't need toppings. It was that good. Used to cut it with the pizza scissors. Have you've ever seen someone cutting pizza with scissors? It tastes nothing like the pizza people think of as pizza.

DiStefano's comes closest to anything I have tried that matches this style of pizza.

My grandmother had the pizza scissors too. Wed or Thur was baking day and it was like a parade, family members would stop religiously, would never see them any other time ever.

There is a church in Youngstown's Briar Hill area, St. Anthony's that makes pizza on Friday's. By far the closest ever to Grandma's.

There is a pizza shop in Boardman called Southgate, the extra dough from the making of the pizza shells they bake off into loaves. The taste and texture is practicallly identical to my Grandmothers bread. Only thing it goes fast and there is never more than a few loaves for sale each day at Southgate.

My buddy Hunter is killing it @ Wild Goose Willoughby. Best pizza in the city hands down. Edison's in Lakewood is good, but simple and more appropriate for late night beer sessions at their bar of the same name. NOCE in Chardon is pretty damn good and takes a different spin on gourmet pizza but very pricey. At least its BYOB which can prove to make a fun evening.

I highly recommend Wild Goose to anyone in the area - their weekly specialty pizzas are ridiculous and their menu is pretty diverse. Also, Hunter makes one of the best Cuban sandwiches anywhere around here.

"All Beckett needs to do to cap off this mess is order some fried chicken and beer" – 5/10/12 before Beckett got chased in the 3rd at Fenway.